Yesterday, Taiwan troops fired warning shots at a Chinese drone flying over an Taiwan-controlled islet near the island of Kinmen (aka Quemoy), which is only about 10 km from the mainland city of Xiamen on the coast. The drone headed back to the mainland after the shots were fired, a military spokesperson said, reported Reuters. Kinmen defense command spokesman Chang Jung-shun said the live rounds were fired at the drone which had approached Erdan islet just before 6 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT), with flares being used previously. Taiwan has been complaining about harassment by Chinese drones over the last few days, complaints that were dismissed by the Chinese side. Footage of at least two drone missions showing Taiwanese soldiers at their posts, and in one case throwing rocks at a drone, have circulated widely on Chinese social media.
Global Times responded to the hype about the drones by saying there’s no need to make a fuss because they were civilian drones flying legally over Chinese territory. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a routine press conference “Chinese drones flying over China’s territory—what’s there to be surprised at?” Furthermore, the frequent flights of civilian drones from the mainland expose the Taiwan armed forces’ weak defenses, and even if Kinmen is equipped with anti-drone systems, they would only affect civilian drones, not military ones, experts told Global Times.
